


heart to heart

by Molnija



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crushes, Established Relationship, F/M, First Date, Friends to Lovers, Indirect Kisses, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Canon, Valentine's Day, each chapter stands on its own!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-17 10:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13656894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molnija/pseuds/Molnija
Summary: three short stories featuring three couples or couples-to-be and how they celebrate the Holiday of Lovers. ♥[Akaoi - Bokuroo - Tanoka]





	1. [Akaoi] of thoughts & promises

**Author's Note:**

> ha, and here I thought I wouldn't actually write anything for Valentine's Day! take that, past Nija, you even wrote more than one thing!!
> 
> even though I'm aromantic and could therefore not care less about a holiday for lovers, I actually really like the aesthetic and purpose of Valentine's Day. everything's so soft and fluffy and full of love, and it's never a bad time to show the people you love how much you care for them. also there are those limited edition gummy candy hearts they only sell in that one store near me around Valentine's Day and they're positively delightful, so.
> 
> whether you have a Valentine or no, I hope you have a great day! and if you don't have a Valentine but want one ... feel extra loved and appreciated. I'm rooting for ya! o/

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just before their first Valentine's Day together, Akaashi and Oikawa have very different experiences when it comes to finding gifts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote most of this half asleep and in an ultra sappy mood, so if that's what it comes across like, now you know why.
> 
> of course they'd be first! I love them a whole lot I dedicate this Valentine's Day to my love for this stupid fictional ship that has taken over my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.
> 
> some easter eggs include the mentioned Akateru friendship and my own intense embarrassment upon writing such cheesy things, as channeled through one Akaashi Keiji. I'm sorry I keep making you suffer so I won't have to be alone in this.

Keiji wasn’t one for big romantic gestures.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love his boyfriend – he did, as much as you could after four months of dating anyway. He’d been pining for him long enough to be confident in his feelings; if anything they’d only gotten stronger ever since they’d officially gotten together.

No, a lack of feelings wasn’t it. He’d have snatched all the stars from the sky and given them to Oikawa Tooru, one every day until their blinding light mirrored in some way how he illuminated Keiji’s life, even if nothing could ever capture that perfectly, if he’d been able to. He’d have broken into a highly secured museum and stolen a priceless artefact if he’d expressed desire for it in any subtle way. He’d have given up his perfectly fine starter position on their college team so he could have seen him play, intense and energising and kind of scary in all the right ways, if he’d been the starter in the first place.

Thinking those things was all fine and good, but actually _acting_ on them was proving incredibly embarrassing.

But he couldn’t simply let their first Valentine’s Day together slide, which was why he was standing in the distinctly corporate holiday section of their local supermarket right now, trying to figure out which one of these cheesy things would be the least awkward to buy.

Tooru loved stuff like this. Heart-shaped pillows with sappy phrases stitched onto them, limited-edition chocolate boxes that were basically the same thing as the normal ones except more expensive, pink plushies with big eyes that had a spot you could press so they’d say something allegedly romantic in a terribly synthesised voice. In fact, Keiji was a bit afraid to be getting something like this from his boyfriend – the chocolate he could probably deal with, but everything else he’d have to quietly get rid of.

Just looking at these things made him want to bolt. The general aesthetic of Valentine’s Day was nice, all soft and fluffy and sparkly, but it was all so much at once and he wondered how any sane person could give this to their lover unironically.

He’d been thinking about doing something else, like take him to one of the places they’d claimed as their own – he was sure the spring in the park they liked to visit was just marvellous at night at this time of year, or perhaps the big pompous shopping mall on which’s opening night two months ago they’d danced together in the ballroom it absolutely did not need to have. Even a small movie night with just the two of them would have been nice, or anything in general that did not involve an onslaught of … _This_ , but it wasn’t that easy. Time was scarce, with finals and the national volleyball tournament coming up and everything, and they both appreciated just having a break every once in a while. Something like that would just lead to overplanning on his part, which in return almost always led to disaster.

So a small, dumb, pointless present it was. Fine.

He picked up a teddy bear that looked harmless enough at first glance, but as soon as he turned it around to look at it, he pressed the left paw in just the wrong way and was greeted with an extremely loud, extremely screechy, “ _I love you so beary much!!_ ” that made him drop it right on the tiled floor.

Keiji stared at it lying there for a moment and narrowed his eyes. “Never do that again,” he told it before picking it up again and putting it back on the shelf where it belonged.

He moved on to a stack of candles. Now, he personally had kind of a thing for candles – their warm light was easier on the eyes than most others and he’d always loved the atmosphere of a room lit only by candlelight. In fact, he’d thought about starting to collect them before he started university, as a little hobby to distract him from the terrors of studying and uni-level volleyball, but he’d never gone through with it. Tooru, however …

He was responsible enough, but he did not trust him to not accidentally knock it over when leaving in a hurry and burning down his apartment. As long as Keiji wasn’t living there yet, there was no way he was going to gift him a safety hazard.

Eventually his eyes landed on another plushie – a dog, white with pinks specks on it, with big glittering eyes, one ear flopping down with the other standing up, and a big heart in his mouth.

How incredibly cheesy.

But he had to admit it was pretty cute, too. As far as plushies went, this was by far the least offensive one he’d seen so far, and upon closer inspection it didn’t seem to do anything other than stand there and be very soft and fluffy.

He could see it sitting on Tooru’s drawer in the bedroom, or maybe even on the bed, in the place where Keiji should have been. Maybe having something like this to remind him that if things continued going as well as they were right now, he’d absolutely come to live with him somewhere down the line. Thinking about waking up next to him every day when right now that was confined to the days he stayed over did strange things to his heart, and perhaps like this it would shorten the time until that reality came to be.

It was a little impersonal though. Just a little dog plushie he bought in a supermarket, many of which he was sure were going to be thrown around by couples worldwide. It’d been made by a popular company too.

Keiji grabbed it regardless, if only to have something to fall back on if he couldn’t think of anything else.

It took the better half of an hour to keep pacing around, staring at things and desperately looking for something else, until he gave up and settled on the dog. He’d have to combine it with something else, maybe make a ribbon for it or something, even though that, too, bordered on _way too sappy_.

On his way out, he noticed something glittering in a corner.

There were few things that could distract him from getting out of a situation he didn’t want to be in, but mysterious glitter was one of them. This was the arts and crafts section, so it wasn’t entirely uncommon to find glitter here, but this seemed to be on the floor.

When he entered the aisle, he saw exactly why – someone had dropped an impressive amount of glittering plastic stars on the floor and not bothered to clean up. His gaze swept around until he found the matching broken jar sitting neatly in the very corner; at least whomever had broken this had had the decency to not let people walk into shards of glass.

Even though it was a display of carelessness and perhaps even rudeness, he couldn’t help but keep staring.

The too bright, too white light of the LEDs made them shine in an abnormal, kind of hideous way, and they certainly didn’t complement the greenish tiles, but somehow, they were still beautiful.

It might have been Tooru’s thinking influencing him at this point, bringing him back to his early days of being really into space when he’d been a child, or maybe he just had a terrible sense of aesthetic, and yet …

There was only one other jar of these stars sitting on the shelf.

Keiji looked at it, then the dog in his hand, and then the jar again, and suddenly he had an idea.

Still an incredibly cheesy idea, but an idea nonetheless, that shouldn’t have been too hard or time-consuming to do if he did it correctly. Honestly, filling the box he was going to put this in with stars seemed almost too simple to constitute as personalising his present, but he knew how much Tooru loved the stars and that he’d certainly find a use for them in his decorating.

He’d just have to think of something to say with it. _You deserve all the stars in the sky, but this is the closest I got to it._

Just thinking about that sentence made him squirm in embarrassment.

It was almost too perfect.

 

* * *

 

The apartment felt too big and too empty even though he’d stuffed it full with decorations as soon as he’d gotten it, but he was lying on his sofa staring at the ceiling with a smile regardless, letting his thoughts wander.

While he didn’t usually have a lot of time to care about holidays, Valentine’s Day was a personal favourite of Tooru’s. To be fair, that was mostly because back in junior high and high school he’d get essentially bombarded with chocolate, but he just liked the general idea of it too.

He liked to think he was usually doing a good job of making Keiji feel loved and appreciated, but he indulged in spoiling him rotten and having a day on which nobody could call him out for it was nothing if not convenient. No more _you’re spending too much time and money on him_ from Iwaizumi or _are you just together with him because you like buying him food?_ from Kuroo, at least not until February 15 th.

This time, though, he had something different in mind.

At first, he’d thought about doubling down on his affections, but that would have probably come across as way too clingy, and he knew he’d only get a disgusted face and an impossibly fake _uh … thank you_ if he got him a cute present like you normally would. Chocolate might have been nice, or something else to eat, but that didn’t last for all too long, and flowers died too quickly to be a proper symbol of love.

No, that wasn’t what he was going for.

Valentine’s Day doubled as their four month anniversary, and Tooru would have loved to say that it was fate, but that would have been a lie – honestly, he should have confessed two months earlier to make it a nice half year but he hadn’t, as he’d been stupid and doubted himself because reading Akaashi Keiji was a task he had not yet mastered even now, but it definitely had to be a 14th, so November it had been.

Four months was a relatively short time to be together, he knew that, but their relationship couldn’t be described as _ordinary_. Only a few people knew what he was really like; he wasn’t particularly playing a role or wearing a mask, not anymore at least, but he was careful with how much he let people see of him. Making yourself vulnerable was the fastest way to get hurt. But Keiji knew it all – he’d _seen_ it all, all the good and the bad and the ugly, and he’d stayed regardless, and if anything could give him a decent idea of how much someone loved him, this was it.

And even though it was still a strange when he could tell what Keiji was feeling but never _why_ , it was comforting in a way, too. Having someone to match him like this, a person that was a challenge in a way but never to the point of frustration, had only done him good.

Tooru knew how much Keiji liked staying at his place. It wasn’t difficult to tell, really, with how many excuses he’d find to come over and stay for longer than strictly necessary. He couldn’t blame him – he was living in a shared dorm room with Terushima Yuuji of all people and usually complaining about it. Even though those two were quite good friends, apparently that did not translate into a high tolerance of Terushima’s snoring.

But that wasn’t all there was to it. Just like Tooru felt at peace when Keiji was there, the sheer amount of warmth and comfort his boyfriend radiated whenever they were alone at his apartment was near comical. His name and former school might imply him being an owl, but in those moments, he was reminded much more of a very pleasant cat.

So he was absolutely certain that Keiji would be overjoyed to receive this.

Tooru shifted just enough to grab the key lying on the table so he could hold it above him and stare at it while his smile was growing. He’d put a little something on it too, a remote little star that had once belonged to a bracelet and made for a nice keychain now. The key had just been forged yesterday, so it was still new and shiny in the light, but he’d only become happier once it’d start to wear down from use. Making it now had been quite expensive and included an annoying argument with the owner of the building about whether or not he was actually allowed to do that, but he’d eventually gotten his way, as he was used to. He did have a spare key himself, but he’d rather have kept that for emergencies.

Besides, he’d wanted this to be new. A new step in their relationship, a new part of their life, a new way to open an old door that’d lead to a future combining the best of both of those.

Well, that and he might still go and get chocolate later if he passed by the supermarket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keiji looked at the key, a mix of intense joy and rising discomfort mingling into a feeling that didn't quite want to show itself as anything but a blank stare.
> 
> "That's so much more thoughtful than mine," he muttered. Tooru deserved better than his stupid dog plushie and all those stars. It made him feel a bit inadequate.
> 
> But when he raised his head and dared to look at his boyfriend's face as he was opening his present, all he got was a wide grin and sparkling eyes.
> 
> "B-because ... You know. Stars," Keiji forced out in an inconceiveably terrible attempt at not butchering the sentence he had sworn he was going to say. "Uhm ... I love you?"
> 
> Tooru's smile fell into a far more confused expression and he blinked at him. "Why did that sound like a question?"
> 
> "I'm sorry, I didn't ..." He shook his head intensely, cleared his throat, and started again. "Thank you. Really. I know I'm not really showing it right now, but ... I'm really happy. I'm just kind of mad at myself I didn't get you anything more meaningful. I had a plan with this ..."
> 
> He couldn't continue, as he was being pulled into a deep hug. "Look, Keiji," he hear him mutter into his ear, a low, soothing voice that sent shivers down his spine, "I know you hate these kinds of things. I, for one, think this is absolutely adorable and the fact that you got something for me at all means more than you'll ever know."
> 
> Tooru was saying that, but to be honest, hearing him speak those words gave Keiji a pretty good idea.


	2. [Bokuroo] of words & certainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo is stressing out over how to confess to his friend, and Bokuto writes a letter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA! I FINALLY DID IT! I WROTE PROPER, NON-BIGGER-FIC-RELATED, ACTUAL BOKUROO!!!!
> 
> they're actually my second favourite hq!! ship can you see a pattern here I LOVE THEM A LOT
> 
> this is my first time properly writing Kuroo and of course it is by making him suffer. poor dude. dw my guy it'll all turn out fine in the end

There were a few things Tetsurou knew. A whole lot about chemistry and biology, Kenma’s landline number even though he never picked up, all the birthdays of his friends, how to yell at Yamamoto in just the right pitch to make him immediately pipe down, and that Yaku had it out for him, but the most important one was that he was head over heels for a stupid owl and had no fucking clue what to do with it.

“Tell him,” was what Kai had said just five minutes ago when he’d basically run him down on the hallway trying to get some form of advice out of him, before turning around and leaving without another world, because Kai might secretly be a terrible friend.

Truth be told, today might actually be the perfect time to tell him – in fact, it was Valentine’s Day, and what better day to confess than Valentine’s Day? But if he somehow got rejected, it’d ruin the holiday for him forever. Normally he was looking forward to the girls from his study group handing around chocolate to every one of their male members and going over to Nohebi to laugh at Daishou’s lack of a Valentine, but this year he just couldn’t get into the mood for it.

As his teacher was going on about some math formulas he had no need to learn since they’d already been part of what he’d studied for the precise reason of rubbing his intellectual superiority in Yaku’s face, he was making better use of his time and exercise sheet by scribbling what he hoped would eventually turn out to be a plan on the back of it.

Right now, all that was on it was _call Fukurodani in for a last-minute practice match - > confess to Bokuto during break -> play it off as a joke if he says no_, but the truth was that unless Akaashi would be playing along (something he didn’t even dare ask him, he got scary whenever Tetsurou brought up the topic, something about _you’re just going to break his heart and if that happens I’ll have both a sad excuse for a best friend and a worthless dejected ace_ ), there was no way he could make that happen.

Thing was, if it was related to volleyball, it wasn’t that difficult to do. They always had the most fun practicing or running together and occasionally, some things he shouldn’t be saying slipped out of his mouth and he’d never bothered taking them back. Volleyball was easy.

Actually asking him to meet in their own time, just the two of them, with no apparent reason? Not easy.

Something hit the back of his head and he heard it bounce off it and hit the ground so quietly it was a miracle he’d even picked up on it, and when he deliberately dropped his pen to have an excuse to pick it up, he was greeted with a ball of paper that when opened read _Pay attention, you idiot_ in Yaku’s handwriting.

Tetsurou had half a mind to turn around and glare at him. He’d given up on them shuffling the seats, with graduation impending, so he’d resigned to a life of sitting directly in front of and getting regularly pelted by scribbly messages courtesy of Yaku Morisuke. Unfortunately, it didn’t really work the other way around, so he was stuck just thinking _I am paying attention. To the more important things_ very intently.

Because his stupid, stupid feelings for Bokuto were much more important. If someone had told him three years ago that the guy with the strange haircut and loud voice he’d occasionally see benched on Fukurodani Academy’s junior high team would turn out to be not only one of the best aces in the country, but also an obnoxiously energetic and quite frankly _incredibly cute_ person he’d end up falling for, he would have laughed. Or punched them, depending on whether they had been Daishou or not.

But here he was. He’d actually figured out his feelings pretty quickly – most likely because it was really hard to miss whatever weird things he did to his heart and stomach whenever he smiled that stupid, annoying, _adorable_ smile – but that didn’t mean he had any idea how to tell him.

Bokuto was a special guy. He deserved a special confession, and a special significant other, and a special life. Tetsurou didn’t know if he could give him any of that.

He gripped his pencil and crossed out what he’d written so far, once, twice, three times, and then he just scribbled all over it without rhyme or reason until it was impossible to see what had originally been there.

Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day.

And Kai had a damn point. He had to tell him. Who knew if he’d have the chance when they graduated? He’d already failed so many times, trying to say it but never going through with it, and that needed to change. He was going to get his big stupid owl boyfriend and if it was the least thing he did.

He still had no idea how, but he would.

 

* * *

 

It was easy to forget, but even in his current state, Koutarou thought Akaashi was a very patient man.

“What am I going to _do_?” he whispered for the third time this evening, shaking his setter and only receiving an increasingly bothered stare in return. “It’s tomorrow! Valentine’s Day’s tomorrow! I have to use this to talk to Kuroo but I don’t know how so what do I _do_?”

“First of all,” Akaashi said and tried – in vain – to remove Koutarou’s hands from his shoulders, “decide whether you want to whisper or to shout, because right now you’re not doing either of those and both at the same time.”

“I can’t shout but I feel like shouting!” His house might have been big, but it also had very thin walls, and his grandmother would surely tell him off if he got too loud past 6 PM. “And you’re not helping!”

“What are you expecting me to say?” One thing he had to hand to his friend was that he could make even a normal sentence sound like an exasperated sigh. He’d never heard anything quite like it.

“I don’t know, but … Like, tell me that I should tell him how I feel and that everything’s going to be okay, and that I only need to find a place to meet up with him after school where nobody can listen so it’s only the two of us. Or tell me to write a love letter and give it to him at that place rather than actively confess so it’s more romantic and I can run if I get really scared and still get over with it …”

“See? There you go. Now goodbye, I still have a test to study for tomorrow.”

It was out of sheer surprise that Koutarou’s grip on him loosened and Akaashi could stand up from the floor of his room and get his bag from the corner. Only when he nodded in greeting and Koutarou returned the gesture, the true impact of what he’d just said settled in.

Akaashi was halfway down the hallway when he jumped up and ran out of his room, shouting, “Akaashi!! You can’t just leave! What am I going to do without you?!”

“Exactly what you just said,” was the answer that came in a far more reasonable volume. “He likes you too, as anyone with eyes can tell. I can’t say I entirely approve of it, but if it makes you happy, you really have nothing to fear.”

Wait, he … He what?

He liked him too?

This was news to him? What?

Akaashi left him standing there in the hallway confused and slightly hopeful. Surely, if his best friend, whom he trusted more than most, said something like this, it must be true, right? If Kuroo really liked him the same way …

“Koutarou!” he heard his grandmother shout from another room. “Stop making so much noise!”

He suddenly didn’t feel affected anymore, though. Kuroo liked him back. Apparently.

Which meant he could totally do that whole thing he just explained to Akaashi without having to be afraid of rejection.

Now, he didn’t really know how to write a love letter, but there was a first time for everything, and if he could get down straight spikes he could get this down too. There was an energy burning in him not unlike what he’d feel when he played a great match, like he was shining and all eyes were on him because _look at me, I’m on top of the world_.

He headed back to his room in record speed, sat down at his desk, grabbed the nearest writing utensils and paper, and started writing.

Koutarou knew that if he thought about if for too long, nothing would come out, so he just had to write the thoughts out as they came, not caring about if he was writing everything correctly or if it didn’t sound like an award-winning poem – if Kuroo liked him, even though he’d never pretended to be anything he wasn’t, then he couldn’t try and make it sound different.

 _Kuroo_ , he wrote, stopped for a moment, and crossed it back out.

_Tetsurou._

_When I first saw you block that really strong guy in junior high, I couldn’t stop staring! At that time, I thought about how cool it would be to be the one on the other side. Breaking through that block would feel amazing, and even if it doesn’t work, it’ll only motivate me to try harder. I didn’t think that would actually happen though, and I didn’t think we’d actually become friends. I mean, I knew Nekoma and Fukurodani had this training group thing going on, but I didn’t actually know you went to Nekoma at all, so when I saw you there and we played against each other and started practicing together, I was super happy._

_It took me a while to get the starter position, but then with Akaashi’s help I even became the ace! Obviously I’m a lot better than you now and could totally beat you all the time, but I still think you’re pretty amazing. Not just because of volleyball. I mean, you can be an ass sometimes, but I have so much fun with you. When we meet after school and on weekends and watch movies and talk about conspiracy theories (I’m still 100% sure Fukunaga is an alien) and get something to eat and I’m just really happy to be with you, you know? It’s like … Even though you’re mean to me, you never look down on me or make me feel really bad. Being friends with you feels just right._

_But I like you a lot and I just kinda think I don’t wanna keep being only friends. I want to hug you and kiss you and tell everyone about how this great guy belongs to me. And I want you to know that whatever happens, I wanna be there with you when it does. It’s weird to say it but Akaashi said you like me back so I’m not really scared anymore. So, will you be my boyfriend?_

_Yours, Koutarou_

_P.S.: If you say no you’re buying me dinner to make up for it. And if you say yes you’re buying me dinner anyway to celebrate._

It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t need to be, not anymore.

Koutarou folded the letter and went looking for an envelope, and on the way he texted Kuroo.

_you free tomorrow after school?? lets meet at the usual spot!!!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou's eyes were reading the letter just fine, but his brain had trouble following. It could barely be classified as a love letter, but it still made his heart race in his chest and butterflies fly in his stomach, because this - this was why he'd fallen in love with him. Complete, blunt, strange honesty and no need to hide behind anything. He wanted to make Bokuto feel just like this, and somehow, by some stroke of fate, he'd actually managed to do it. Friends first and lovers second, or maybe there wasn't a difference at all, either way it didn't matter.
> 
> He thought he'd have to do something special for him and failed miserably, not even managing getting a box of chocolates or something equally as ordinary, but in hindsight, he'd been an idiot. Of course Bokuto would be the special one. He always was. And he'd be the enabler, as always, as long as it didn't get out of hand.
> 
> "So ... Will you?" the other asked, and even though he was radiating confidence, his smile was a bit shy, unusually so.
> 
> Tetsurou stared at him for a long time until he broke. "Yes, yes, of course, you goddamn idiot, of course I will, why do I even ... _Fuck_ , I'm in love with you."
> 
> He'd be exactly what Bokuto needed, and Bokuto would be the same source of sunshine in his life he'd always been.


	3. [Tanoka] of firsts & chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanoka and Tanaka are finally going on their first date, and even though both are nervous, it only leads to good things. Well, mostly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my love for Tanoka knows no bounds I'm so gLAD my favourite character got such an adorable love interest whose affections for him blossomed from just how damn supportive he was of her like tell me you wouldn't be in love with Ryuu if you were Kanoka. tell me. I bet you can't because you'd be LYING
> 
> and with that, the three short stories are completed! one for each of my hq!! OTPs. there's a lot of other ships I love, but these three are my absolute favourites! maybe if I hadn't procrastinated as hard as I did, I could have written even more ... but alas ... can't turn back time ...

Kanoka hadn’t seen Ryuunosuke since nationals.

They’d been texting a lot and she’d been reminded over and over again of how badly she was in love with him, how good he made her feel about herself, how he could make her laugh and smile even in the darkest moments, and how wonderful it felt to do the same things to him, but even though their schools weren’t far apart from each other, they’d both been too busy to meet up again.

That was, until today.

She was clutching the bag to the point where she was afraid she’d rip it in half, that cute pink thing with the hearts on it wishing everyone a Happy Valentine, while she was waiting in front of the shopping mall they’d picked out for what was officially their _first date_.

Kanoka had read that text over and over again, that _so it’s gonna be an actual date_ that Ryuunosuke had needed five minutes to write, and it still felt just as powerful as the first time. Even though her goal at nationals had been to win, not to date boys, she’d somehow managed to do both and was just a little bit proud of herself, especially since Ryuunosuke wasn’t just any boy. It had to be him. There was no other way.

That was why she’d put on her prettiest outfit – only for it to be hidden under her thick winter coat because it was snowing today, which didn’t feel much like Valentine’s at all – and made extra sure that her hair was looking good and even put on a bit of make-up. Back then, she’d have never thought she’d have a chance with him, but now it was actually possible and the thought alone made her want to bolt and never confront what was actually happening.

But her friend Rana had said it was okay, so it surely was, right? If she ever wanted to be with Ryuunosuke, she couldn’t keep running away.

So she’d done her best, had stayed up all night to make chocolate, and the time had run out so she hadn’t been able to taste-test it but at least it looked nice, so she hoped it was okay. After all, Ryuunosuke deserved only her best.

Waiting was painful, but she’d been there a few minutes early, so she should have expected this. Thankfully, she heard a familiar voice shout her name before she could second-guess herself even further.

“Kanoka!”

It had been too long since she’d heard him say it and the sound alone made her blush furiously as Ryuunosuke ran up to her, wearing a cute scarf and a cute beanie and a cute smile and overall just being cute. Even though he always tried so hard to seem rough and manly, Kanoka thought he was adorable beyond that.

“H-hey, Ryuu-chan,” she said when he came to a halt in front of her, trying not to seem too flustered. If Rana had been here, she’d have told her that it wasn’t working, but she wasn’t here, so Kanoka’s attempts at making herself believe she was doing a good job at that weren’t all fruitless, and her voice was much more stable when she continued. “How are you? It’s been too long since we’ve met up last.”

“Uh, I’m … I’m good! Pretty good! Pretty amazing, actually …” His words trailed off when he noticed the bag she was carrying. “Is that … I mean, is that thing …”

“For you!” she yelled a bit too loudly and practically shoved it against his chest, staring at the ground with a burning face. “I made them myself. Since it’s Valentine’s Day and all, I thought … You know … For our … D-date …”

“Ah. Thank you …”

They stood there in silence for a long, long time, and Kanoka didn’t know if Ryuunosuke was looking at her because she was still too afraid to look up from the ground but considering the awkward air around them, she kind of doubted he was.

Eventually, it was him who spoke first though. “So, uhm … Should we go?”

“Y-yes, sure! Can’t be standing around all day, right?” She forced a laugh but it sounded wooden and about as embarrassed as she felt.

This was much more difficult than she could have ever imagined. Then again, even talking to Ryuunosuke about unrelated things back at nationals had been kind of difficult.

But they always found a way out of that and became more comfortable with each other, so she couldn’t earnestly say that she was afraid.

 

* * *

 

Kanoka was really, really cute.

She was cute when she was pointing out pretty jewellery neither of them could afford, she was cute when she was hugging an oversized teddy bear in a toy shop, and she was especially cute when she was going on about the recent volleyball match of the Japanese national team and why they could have won if they’d worn another brand of shoes.

Ryuunosuke had been chasing after Kiyoko for so long it had taken him a while to realise that another, possibly even better girl was right in front of him, someone he knew he got along with, someone who was always fun to be with, someone he looked up to without ever feeling really envious of her skill. He wanted the best for her, both as a friend and … Something else.

So when they were sitting on one of the benches in the shopping mall and he was about to get out the box of chocolate from the bag she’d given him, he got distracted looking at her and how bright her eyes and smile got and how deep she blushed when she was talking about something she was passionate about.

Honestly, right now he didn’t even know what she _was_ talking about, he thought it involved her baby nephew but he wasn’t sure, as listening to her had become difficult when his brain was constantly shouting at him to make a move.

He didn’t know how to do that though, so he just listened on to her increasingly high-pitched voice – as always when she was excited – and finally opened the chocolate box.

Kanoka’s chattering stopped immediately and he felt very watched when he took the first piece of chocolate out. “Oooh,” he whispered, marvelling at the perfect heart shape. Did she really make these herself? They turned out amazing.

It was small enough to just put the whole thing in his mouth and bite down, expecting a taste similar to how perfect it looked …

And immediately had to cough as soon as he tasted it.

“Ryuu-chan?!”

A feat unbelievable even to him, he managed to swallow the piece of what slyly pretended to be chocolate and grab the water bottle Kanoka held out to him to take a big chug. When his coughing had somehow calmed down, she was nearly crying.

“Ryuu-chan, what happened? Did I do something wrong? Or are you sick? Ryuu-chan, please don’t die on me!”

He held up a hand to signalise she could stop worrying, everything was okay. But seriously, how had _this_ happened? “It’s salty!”

Kanoka gasped and didn’t look like she was about to stop being near tears anytime soon. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t have the time to taste-test— I must have mixed up salt and sugar, I’m so sorry! This wasn’t … Supposed to happen …”

“I-it’s okay!” Ryuunosuke grabbed her shoulders, feeling helpless. How did you stop a girl from crying? He only ever accidentally _made_ them cry. “They’re still great! L-look, I’ll eat them! I’ll eat them all!”

“Ryuu-chan, no! You’re going to die!”

“It’ll be worth it!”

“ _No_!” Before he could take another piece of chocolate, she stole the entire box away from him and set it down behind her where he couldn’t reach. “I’m not in love with you to kill you!”

Any reply he could have had to that was wiped from his brain.

He knew she had a crush on him, Ennoshita had been reminding him of that pretty much every day recently, but actually hearing her say it out loud … Actually say that she was in _love_ with him …

He could only move his mouth without any words coming out, trying to form some sort of answer, but what the fuck do you say to something like that? It wasn’t even a normal confession where he could just go _I like you too_!

Kanoka seemed to have realised as well, as she was now only staring at him mindlessly, entire body tense as if she was just waiting for the right opportunity to bolt. Which he could absolutely not let happen. He wouldn’t let the girl he had a crush on run away after confessing. What kind of person would that make him?

It said a lot about her resolve that she was the first one who managed to speak though. “Can I … Have my water bottle back?”

Oh.

Oh shit.

The water bottle.

He hadn’t even realised it when he’d just been in desperate need of water, but he’d seen her drink from it earlier, so now that she’d called attention to it, he couldn’t help but think … “That just now was an indirect kiss.”

Kanoka made a sound similar to the cat on whose tail he’d accidentally stepped two days ago.

He had to say something. Why couldn’t he be Nishinoya? Nishinoya always knew what to say.

“But, hey, I mean,” he started, not sure where he was going with this, “this is a date, so obviously these things would happen! Right?”

“R-right,” she muttered. Ryuunosuke tried to laugh, but it didn’t even sound like a laugh, more like a really sad excuse for a cough.

For a few minutes, they sat there, staring anywhere but at each other.

“And, y’know,” he murmured, so quietly there was no way she’d heard it, “of course I don’t mind an indirect kiss with the girl I’m in love with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She was sure he thought she hadn't heard that. Otherwise he wouldn't have been this quiet about it. Perhaps she should have pretended she hadn't cought it, but hearing those words come from Ryuunosuke's mouth, even if it had been ever so quietly, made something bloom inside her.
> 
> Kanoka reached out for his hand.
> 
> "I'm happy you feel that way," she said, and even though it was still strange and awkward, it felt just right.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!
> 
> hq!! tumblr: akaashi-tooru.tumblr.com/ please yell with me about rarepairs and very sappy things


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